Traffic Eng.

Travel Time & Delay

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Travel Time and Delay Studies

In this lecture;
--------------------1- Definitions.
2- Application and Importance.
3- Methods and Techniques.
3.1 Using test vehicle
3.2 Without test vehicle
3.3 Delay at intersections

The information included in this lecture is largely taken from Traffic and Highway
Engineering (Garber and Hoel, 2009), Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering
(O'Flaherty, 1997), Traffic Theory (Gazis, 2002), Traffic Engineering (Roess et al.,
2011) and Traffic Engineering Design (Slinn et al., 2005) .

1- General and Definitions.

A driver is delayed along his journey by a combination of factors, which includes the
interactions with other cars and the effect of regulatory devices such as stop
signs and traffic signals (Gazis, 2002). A travel time study determines the amount of
time required to travel from one point to another on a given route.
Following are the key definitions (Garber and Hoel, 2009):
1- Travel time is the time taken by a vehicle to traverse a given section of a highway.
2. Running time is the time a vehicle is actually in motion while traversing a given
section of a highway.
3. Delay is the time lost by a vehicle due to causes beyond the control of the driver.
4. Operational delay is that part of the delay caused by the impedance of other
traffic. This impedance can occur either as side friction, where the stream flow
Faculty of Engineering - 3rd Year

Dr. Firas H. Asad

Traffic Eng.

Travel Time & Delay

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is interfered with by other traffic (for example, parking or unparking vehicles),

or as internal friction, where the interference is within the traffic stream (for
example, reduction in capacity of the highway).

5. Stopped-time delay is that part of the delay during which the vehicle is at rest.
6. Fixed delay is that part of the delay caused by control devices such as traffic
signals. It occurs regardless of the traffic volume or the impedance that may exist.
7. Travel-time delay is the difference between the actual travel time and the travel
time measured under non-congested traffic condition.

2- Applications and Importance

The data obtained from travel time and delay studies may be used in any one of the
following traffic engineering tasks (Garber and Hoel (2009) and OFlaherty (1997)).
Determination of the efficiency of a route with respect to its ability to carry traffic.
Identification of locations and causes of high delays.
Measure the before-and-after impacts of traffic management improvements.
Performance of economic studies and analyses in the evaluation of traffic
operation alternatives .
Faculty of Engineering - 3rd Year

Dr. Firas H. Asad

Traffic Eng.

Travel Time & Delay

15 16

3- Methods and Techniques

Several methods have been used to conduct travel time and delay studies. These
methods can be grouped into two general categories: (1) those using a test vehicle
and (2) those not requiring a test vehicle. The particular technique used for any
specific study depends on the reason for conducting the study and the available
personnel and equipment.
3-1 Methods Requiring a Test Vehicle
This category involves three possible techniques: floating-car, average-speed, and
moving-vehicle techniques (Garber and Hoel, 2009).
A- Floating-Car Technique .
In this method, the test car is driven by an observer along the test section so that
the test car floats with the traffic. The driver of the test vehicle attempts to pass as
many vehicles as those that pass his test vehicle. The time taken to traverse the
study section is recorded. This is repeated, and the average time is recorded as the
travel time. The minimum number of test runs can be determined statistically.
B- Average-Speed Technique.
This technique involves driving the test car along the length of the test section at a
speed that, in the opinion of the driver, is the average speed of the traffic stream.
The time required to traverse the test section is noted. The test run is repeated for
the minimum number of times based on concepts of statistics (the level of
confidence required) and the average time is recorded as the travel time.
In each of these methods, it is first necessary to clearly identify the test section. The
way the travel time is usually obtained is that the observer starts a stopwatch at the
beginning point of the test section and stops at the end. Additional data also may be
obtained by recording the times at which the test vehicle arrives at specific locations
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Traffic Eng.

Travel Time & Delay

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which have been identified before the start of the test runs. A second stopwatch
also may be used to determine the time that passes each time the vehicle is
stopped. The sum of these times for any test run will give the stopped-time delay for
that run. Table 1 below shows an example of a set of data obtained for such a study.

Alternatively, the driver alone can collect the data by using a laptop computer with
internal clock and distance functions. The predetermined locations (control points)
are first programmed into the computer. At the start of the run, the driver activates
the clock and distance functions; then the driver presses the appropriate computer
key for each specified location. The data are then recorded automatically. The
causes of delay are then recorded by the driver on a tape recorder .

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Travel Time & Delay

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C- Moving-Vehicle Technique.
In this technique, the observer
makes a round trip on a test section
like the one shown in Figure, where
it is assumed that the road runs east
to west.
The observer starts collecting the relevant data at section X-X, drives the car
eastward to section Y-Y, then turns the vehicle around and drives westward to
section X-X again.
The following data are collected as the test vehicle makes the round trip:
The time it takes to travel east from X-X to Y-Y (Te), in minutes
The time it takes to travel west from Y-Y to X-X (Tw), in minutes
The number of vehicles traveling west in the opposite lane while the test car is
traveling east (Ne).
The number of vehicles that overtake the test car while it is traveling west from YY to X-X, that is, traveling in the westbound direction (Ow)
The number of vehicles that the test car passes while it is traveling west from Y-Y
to X-X, that is, traveling in the westbound direction (Pw)
The volume (Vw) in the westbound direction can then be obtained from the
expression:

where (Ne + Ow - Pw) is the number of vehicles traveling westward that cross the
line X-X during the time (Te + Tw). Note that when the test vehicle starts at X-X,
travelling eastward, all vehicles traveling westward should get to X-X before the test
vehicle, except those that are passed by the test vehicle when it is traveling
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Travel Time & Delay

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westward. Similarly, all vehicles that pass the test vehicle when it is traveling
westward will get to X-X before the test vehicle. The test vehicle will also get to X-X
before all vehicles it passes while traveling westward. These vehicles have, however,
been counted as part of Ne or Ow and therefore, should be subtracted from the
sum of Ne and Ow to determine the number of westbound vehicles that cross X-X
during the time the test vehicle travels from X-X to Y-Y and back to X-X. These
considerations lead to above equation.
w in the westbound direction is obtained from
Similarly, the average travel time T

If the test car is traveling at the average speed of all vehicles, it will most likely pass
the same number of vehicles as the number of vehicles that overtake it. Since it is
probable that the test car will not be traveling at the average speed, the second
term of the equation above corrects for the difference between the number of
vehicles that overtake the test car and the number of vehicles that are overtaken by
the test car.

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Traffic Eng.

Travel Time & Delay

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Dr. Firas H. Asad

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3-2 Methods Not Requiring a Test Vehicle

This category includes the license-plate method and the interview method (Garber
and Hoel, 2009).
A- License-Plate Observations .
The license-plate method requires that observers be positioned at the beginning
and end of the test section. Observers also can be positioned at other locations if
elapsed times to those locations are required. Each observer records
the last three or four digits of the license plate of each car that passes, together with
the time at which the car passes. The reduction of the data is accomplished in the
office by matching the times of arrival at the beginning and end of the test section
for each license plate recorded. The difference between these times is the traveling
time of each vehicle. The average of these is the average traveling time on the test
section.
B- Interviews .
The interviewing method is carried out by obtaining information from people who
drive on the study site regarding their travel times, their experience of delays, and
so forth. This method facilitates the collection of a large amount of data in a
relatively short time. However, it requires the cooperation of the people contacted,
since the result depends entirely on the information given by them.
C- ITS Advanced Technologies .
ITS (Intellegent Transpot Systems or Telematics) can be described as the process
through which data on the movement of people and goods can be collected, stored,
analyzed, and related information distributed. The process has been used in many
areas of transportation engineering. The use of cell phones to collect travel times on
roadways is one such technology. The cell phone network is divided into several
sectors known as cells. A commonly used technology for locating the positions of
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Travel Time & Delay

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the cell phones is the GPS (Global Positioning System ) satellite

system. This system can locate the position of a cell phone with an accuracy of
between 15 and 90 ft. By probing cell phones on highways, the
technology is used to determine average speeds and travel times along highways.

3-3 Delay at Intersections

According to Roess (2004), before 1997 the primary delay measure at intersections
was stopped delay since it was the easiest delay to be measured in the field.
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Nowadays, the measure of effectiveness for signalized and STOPcontrolled intersections is total control delay. The Highway Capacity Manual (HCM,
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2010) defines control delay as the component of delay that results when a traffic
control device causes vehicles to reduce speed or to stop. The 2000 Highway
Capacity Manual defines a field measurement technique for control delay, using the
field sheet shown in next page. The study methodology recommended in the
Highway Capacity Manual is based on direct observation of vehicles-in-queue
at frequent intervals and requires a minimum of two
observers.
Faculty of Engineering - 3rd Year

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Dr. Firas H. Asad

Traffic Eng.

Travel Time & Delay

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Dr. Firas H. Asad